Bradford City continue to plod along in League Two, drifting towards a mid-table finish under Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars.  

That’s quite the achievement for the Bradford management duo given the state the squad was in when they were appointed, as a relegation battle in League Two felt a real possibility.

The squad at Bradford, though, did feel too good for relegation.

On the topic of Bradford’s squad, we flicked our way through the archives to look through players that have played for the Bantams.

There, we were instantly drawn to the number of high-profile older players that have passed through the door at Valley Parade over the years.

We’ve opted to look at the 10 eldest players to ever play for the club in this particular article.

Click through to the following slide to see who makes it at No.10..

Saunders had a stellar career, not just in the English game, but also abroad.

The Welshman had stints with Swansea City and Cardiff City, but it was Derby County that he really started to make a name for himself.

Liverpool and Aston Villa offered the forward an elevated platform to succeed, before spells with Galatasaray, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Benfica.

Finally, Saunders ended up with Bradford between 1999 and 2001.

Over that time, the forward made 53 appearances, with the last of those coming when he was 36 years, seven months and 20 days old against Southampton in February 2001.

Thorne built a career for himself with the likes of Wigan Athletic and Swindon Town, before getting the opportunity to move to Stoke City.

Over his time with the Potters, Thorne scored over 80 goals and made 189 appearances for the club.

Similar success followed with Cardiff City following the Millennium, with Thorne again managing to pass 50 goals for a club.

Then, via a spell with Norwich City, Thorne ended up at Valley Parade with the Bantams.

There, he made 84 appearances between 2007 and 2010, scoring 32 goals and becoming the ninth oldest player to play for the club.

At 36 years, seven months and 30 days old, he edges ahead of Saunders in this list.

Jones was a midfielder that had really made a name for himself during his time as a player with Rochdale.

Before he’d even stepped foot in Bradford as a Bantam, Jones had made 533 appearances for Dale and returned 80 goals from the midfield.

By 2012, he was bound for Bradford, who he would go on and make 100 appearances for between 2012 and 2014.

Jones was part of the memorable League Cup run in 2012/13, then the promotion that came under Phil Parkinson via the League Two play-offs.

By the time Jones departed, he left as one of the club’s all-time oldest players at 36 years and 11 months old.

Dreyer was well travelled before he ended up with Bradford, having had spells with Oxford, Torquay, Fulham, Luton Town, Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers.

His period of time with Luton saw him make well over 200 appearances, with the defender really thriving with the Hatters.

In 1996, he rocked up at Bradford and went on to make 93 appearances for the club in a three-and-a-half year period.

Dreyer’s final appearance for Bradford came on the final day of the Premier League in the 1999/2000 season, when he helped the Bantams beat Liverpool 1-0 to retain their top-flight status.

At that point he was 36 years, 11 months and three days old.

Donaldson is part of the current Bradford squad and, between now and the end of the League Two season, he will climb this list to a higher berth that sixth.

The forward has been with Bradford since the summer of 2019, and has made 57 appearances for the club and scored nine goals.

Formerly of Birmingham City, Brentford, Sheffield United and many, many more, Donaldson is now approaching the back-end of his playing career.

On Saturday just gone, Donaldson featured for 89 minutes against Colchester as Bradford won 2-1.

At 37 years, one month and 20 days, he cruises onto this list in No.6.

Wetherall made a name for himself with Leeds United in the early part of his career, passing 200 appearances for the Whites in the Premier League.

However, as Leeds looked to move forwards heading into the Millennium, Wetherall was moved on and signed for Bradford.

There, he made 330 appearances for the Bantams and scored 21 goals, including a memorable header in the aforementioned 1-0 win over Liverpool in the Premier League.

By the time that Wetherall made his final appearance for Bradford in 2008, he was 37 years, one month and 19 days old.

Windass had a spell at Bradford between 1999 and 2001, with the forward managing to score 20 goals for the Bantams.

He was well travelled over the course of his career in football and, sure enough, Windass was back with the Bantams between 2003 and 2007, where he added another 66 goals to his tally for the club.

By the time he left, Windass was seemingly approaching the end of the line, with the forward’s final appearance for the Bantams coming when he was 37 years, nine months and 12 days old.

Windass moved onto Hull and scored the winning goal in a play-off final to guide the Tigers into the Premier League on the back of leaving Bradford, drilling home the fact that age is, indeed, just a number.

Recently, McCall has been more associated with the managerial role at Bradford, having taken on the job at Valley Parade on a whopping three separate occasions.

However, there was a point in his playing career when the ex-midfielder was on the books at Bradford as a player, where he had plenty of success.

McCall started out with Bradford, but then had success with Everton and Rangers before returning to Valley Parade.

In that second spell at Bradford, McCall made 175 appearances for the club, including one that made him the third eldest player to ever play for the Bantams.

He was 37 years, 10 months and 11 days old when he made his final appearance for the club, before moving on to Sheffield United.

When you talk about well travelled footballers, Claridge sets the benchmark, without a doubt.

Across his career he had 19 different clubs, alongside numerous spells with the same club.

In total, he made 762 club appearances in his career, which included 29 for Bradford in 2005/06.

That period of time saw Claridge score five goals, but he was coming to the end of a long career at the point he passed through the door at Valley Parade.

The forward’s final appearance came at the time he was 39 years, 11 months and eight days old as Bradford lost 4-1 to Oldham Athletic at Valley Parade.

It’s very little surprise to learn that a goalkeeper tops this list, as they so often do!

Southall had made a name for himself at Everton, where he made over 750 appearances for the Toffees.

Then, throughout the 1990s, the Welsh goalkeeper would move around the country playing for a number of clubs, which led him to Bradford’s door.

In the 1999/2000 season, Southall made his only appearance for Bradford in a West Yorkshire Derby with Leeds United.

Bradford were on the end of a Michael Bridges double, which gave Leeds a 2-1 win.

At the time, Southall was 41 years, five months and 25 days old, which sees him cruise to No.1 in this list.